Torchwood vs Torchwood

(Spoilers if you haven't watched "The Category of Life" yet.)

I have been meaning to write this blog post for about a week or so now, but it hasn't happened yet. I decided earlier today, after I finished watching Merlin Season 3 (aghhhhhhh I need season 4 NOW), that I was going to watch latest installation of Miracle Day and then write what I'd wanted to write. I had planned on writing a I DO NOT LIKE THIS NEW TORCHWOOD AKDAJSH type post, which, to an extent, this will still be. But...something changed in this new episode. Vera.

RTD killed her off. Or at least, it seems that way. I mean, she has two gunshot wounds and is stuck in an oversized oven. All signs point to dead. This is nothing new - I'm used to having character's being killed off of Torchwood. What I was surprised at, was my emotional reaction. I was horrified, sad, even. I gasped out loud when that pig (can't remember his name) shot her. That is the first emotional response I've had in this entire series. (Well, except for seeing Jack the first time. I got very excited. But that's different.) I think that says something, no?

I'm not really sure what is wrong with the new series. I really like the message behind it. It's a warning of sorts. I like that. But there's just something missing. I don't feel connected to the new characters, except Vera. I think I really only remember Esther's name because of Esther Earl, but I honestly can't tell you the other guy's name. I think it starts with an R?

Part of my issue is the fact that it's so Americanized now. It's not just that it's set in America (which, no, I do not like. I miss Cardiff and the Hub.). It feels like a standard American cop show, with Jack and Gwen and Rhys thrown into it and the name "Torchwood" slapped across the front. It just doesn't feel like Torchwood. And I don't know what makes Torchwood. I have no idea. I thought it was Jack, but obviously it's not. I know that I really miss the old team. When Jack called himself Dr. Owen Harper I nearly lost it. And then when R-man started going off about the team and tearing Jack apart and blaming him for their deaths...I think that's when I started to really dislike him. I didn't really like him to begin with (he's the cliche American cop - gruff and angry.) but that did nothing to make me like him more.

I think...having new people, plus a new setting, plus nothing really to tie it back to the old series (well, except Gwen, Rhys and Jack, obviously) it just feels so new and weird. I mean, there aren't even Weevils! There hasn't been a single alien. Isn't that what Torchwood is all about? Aliens? Where are they? I suspect they're behind this whole Phicor business, but still.

This is also the first time I've watched Torchwood as it aired, so maybe that's part of it too. I haven't had to wait to see the aliens, or see the solution.

I dunno. I'm still undecided. I know that I really very much prefer Season 2 and Children of Earth. I'm still waiting for Miracle Day to win me over.